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Who Was Kafka?

thenation.com

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Re: Who Was Kafka?

#11

Post by weinzierl »

This are two very short works from Kafka which have been published in 2012 in the second volume of the three volume biography by Reiner Stach.

The third and last volume of the biography was released last year in Germany and an English translation is about to appear early this year. The first volume is from 2006 and the New York Times had a review back then:

    > Indeed, this book, the first of a projected three 
    > volumes, seems to be written not by a scholar and 
    > editor named Reiner Stach but by a Kafka character 
    > called, to borrow the words of the book's promotional 
    > materials, "the definitive biographer." [1]
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/01/books/review/01roth.html?p...

EDIT for those with paywall issues:

If you are interested in the Kafka biography by Reiner Stach which the original post seems to promote you are better off reading the NYT article I linked above.

If you are interested in the Kafka pieces from the original they are also published in the kakfkaest blog [2]. I'm unsure if they are published with permission though, given they even misspelled "Reiner".

[2] http://daleestey.com/tag/renier-stach/

Re: Who Was Kafka?

#12

Post by mirimir »

andmarios wrote: post #9

This site has one of the most annoying paywalls I've seen. As you scroll down, the page loads the next article. The paywall script detects this as you trying to read another article and throws a pop-up about how you read 3 of the 6 free articles you have. Much to my annoyance, it doesn't let me return to the kafka article but redirects me to the article it auto-loaded. Even if I go back, the same thing happens.

Yes, autoload and paywall strike if you scroll too far. But one can close the window and start fresh. It's not really keeping track.

Re: Who Was Kafka?

#13

Post by visarga »

> YOU'VE READ 3 OF 6 FREE ARTICLES .

Just because a page was loaded and scrolled doesn't mean it has been read. They could at least measure if the user spent more than 30 seconds on the page before counting an article as read.

Also, you have to have an account to continue reading. That sucks. shouldn't happen on a news site/mag.

Re: Who Was Kafka?

#14

Post by coldtea »

mirimir wrote: post #7

This is very cool! Kafka is my favorite Existentialist. The second excerpt strikes me as a classic block-breaking exercise.

>Kafka is my favorite Existentialist

Like one would say "Pistachio is my favorite ice-cream"?

Re: Who Was Kafka?

#15

Post by mirimir »

coldtea wrote: post #14
mirimir wrote: post #7

This is very cool! Kafka is my favorite Existentialist. The second excerpt strikes me as a classic block-breaking exercise.

> Kafka is my favorite Existentialist Like one would say "Pistachio is my favorite ice-cream"?

Yes. I could have added "author", I suppose.

Re: Who Was Kafka?

#16

Post by manigandham »

visarga wrote: post #13

> YOU'VE READ 3 OF 6 FREE ARTICLES . Just because a page was loaded and scrolled doesn't mean it has been read. They could at least measure if the user spent more than 30 seconds on the page before counting an article as read. Also, you have to have an account to continue reading. That sucks. shouldn't happen on a news site/mag.

The measurement should be better (and not autoload articles) but if they feel their content deserves direct payment, that's their right. This will only start to become more anyway as adblocking continues and publishers need to protect access - which means there will need to be accounts/logins.

Re: Who Was Kafka?

#18

Post by coldtea »

superplussed wrote: post #17
mirimir wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. I could have added "author", I suppose.

There was nothing wrong with your original phrasing.

I didn't mean it was wrong with regards to syntax or grammar.

Just that it was a slightly strange thing to say -- seeing as existentialism is concerned with the emptiness, horrors and anxieties of being alive (and doubly so in Kafka), and "favorite" implies something one enjoys.

Re: Who Was Kafka?

#20

Post by mirimir »

coldtea wrote: post #18
superplussed wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was nothing wrong with your original phrasing.

I didn't mean it was wrong with regards to syntax or grammar. Just that it was a slightly strange thing to say -- seeing as existentialism is concerned with the emptiness, horrors and anxieties of being alive (and doubly so in Kafka), and "favorite" implies something one enjoys.

Well, that's just how life is. Empty and meaningless. Except for whatever meaning we create. So I find Kafka both reassuring and amusing. No matter how bad things are, I can at least console myself that I haven't become a cockroach ;)
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